Anonymous wrote:Hi OP. I’m so sorry you are going through this. My child isn’t medically ill but has a lot of challenges that mean he struggles in class and missed class and homework. I’ve decided that letting him have as normal a life as possible is an important priority and grades cannot be the end-all be-all. So I’d really hesitate to isolate her from “normal” life and homeschool unless absolutely necessary. Being at home with parents 24/7 is not developmentally appropriate for a teen, and you do say she has “some” friends.

I’d work on developing an IEP that lets her stay with her class and includes accomodations for part days, scheduling, making up work. Tutoring is extremely effective especially given (I am assuming) she has no learning issues. Yes this will require additional effort and stress but stress isn’t always bad.

Anonymous wrote:Would it be possible for a parent to homeschool a repeat grade? Meaning, if a child was not present in her 8th grade year due to health issue that she is homeschool the following academic year the 8th grade program. Then the year after that, enroll her in an MCPS 9th grade? Or would MCPS declare that even if she is homeschool that she needs to proceed to the following grade.

We had asked our counselor this but the counselor was not sure if MCPS would actually force a situation where the child has to proceed with the next grade level, even if homeschooled.

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP. I’m so sorry you are going through this. My child isn’t medically ill but has a lot of challenges that mean he struggles in class and missed class and homework. I’ve decided that letting him have as normal a life as possible is an important priority and grades cannot be the end-all be-all. So I’d really hesitate to isolate her from “normal” life and homeschool unless absolutely necessary. Being at home with parents 24/7 is not developmentally appropriate for a teen, and you do say she has “some” friends.

I’d work on developing an IEP that lets her stay with her class and includes accomodations for part days, scheduling, making up work. Tutoring is extremely effective especially given (I am assuming) she has no learning issues. Yes this will require additional effort and stress but stress isn’t always bad.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you all for this information.

We are in the thick of everything and still chasing down all the diagnosis. It seems unsustainable with all the doctor's appointments, the different therapy sessions, etc. Missing school and trying to make up the work/tests when a child is exhausted is stressful on her and all of us. Moreover, it takes away from the focus of getting her better healthwise, although she feels a need to still have some exposure to school/peers. We are thinking of asking for a shorten schedule of just the core class to be done in person. And depending on how things go to repeat eighth grade again. I am just not sure on when to ask for the consideration of the grade repeat for planning purposes? We certainly have also had push back by admin when this was brought up previously. We can also try to see if any private school would consider having her repeat 8th.

If we do homeschooling next year to "repeat 8th at home" and re-enrolling in 9th in MCPS (assuming health improves), who do we contact to get the homeschooling process initiated?

Any additional opinion from those with experience in this space would be incredibly helpful to us at this point. We feel already lost with our child's health, and now we have the added component of academics if she enters high school.

You just fill out this form: https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/forms/pdf/270-36.pdf
Mail it in and start homeschooling. The only glitch is if you want to cover high school classes during your 8th grade year. If yes, you will need to have the registrar and your daughter's future high school review the work for credit before starting there. If you are doing only middle school classes, there won't be any problem enrolling for 9th grade.

Anonymous wrote:Thank you all for this information.

We are in the thick of everything and still chasing down all the diagnosis. It seems unsustainable with all the doctor's appointments, the different therapy sessions, etc. Missing school and trying to make up the work/tests when a child is exhausted is stressful on her and all of us. Moreover, it takes away from the focus of getting her better healthwise, although she feels a need to still have some exposure to school/peers. We are thinking of asking for a shorten schedule of just the core class to be done in person. And depending on how things go to repeat eighth grade again. I am just not sure on when to ask for the consideration of the grade repeat for planning purposes? We certainly have also had push back by admin when this was brought up previously. We can also try to see if any private school would consider having her repeat 8th.

If we do homeschooling next year to "repeat 8th at home" and re-enrolling in 9th in MCPS (assuming health improves), who do we contact to get the homeschooling process initiated?

Any additional opinion from those with experience in this space would be incredibly helpful to us at this point. We feel already lost with our child's health, and now we have the added component of academics if she enters high school.

Anonymous wrote:If she's not physically able to attend school, they're temporarily disabled. You need to talk to your school and Local Education Agency (LEA) about that. One way - you could request an IEP meeting. Bring documentation showing she can't physically attend for X time. She'll qualify temporarily for special education under the Other Health Impairments classification. The Local Education Agency will be responsible for ensuring she continues to have access to the curriculum - perhaps through tutoring, through online schooling, etc. Once she is able to physcially return, she'll no longer qualify for special education. Maybe the LEA will try for a 504 plan instead but I don't see how that could work.